Boiling coil for brine tanks of refrigerating apparatus



Feb; 19, 19291 F. L. COOK BOILING COIL FOR BRINE TANKS OF REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 27, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR. mxw,

A TTORNEYJI Pa ta Feb. 19, '1929.

UNITED. STATES FRANK L. COOK,

m'ri-zu'rjv OFFICE.

LOUISVILLIL. KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOB 0F ONE-HALF TO S. D.

GAMREB, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY. i

BOILING COIL FOR BRINE TANKS. 0F REFBIGERATING APPARATUS.

. Application filed 0ctober '27, 1926.. Serial No."144,582.

The invention'relates to refrigerating apparatus and relates more particularly to a.

boiling coil designed to be installed in the brine tank adjacent the refrigerator chamber and through which a liquid orgaseous.

refrigerant of low boiling temperature is circulated through the coil and thence throughout the remainder of the circulating system.

. tion designed to be located in the brine tank In refrigerating apparatus where the present improvement is designed to be employed, the expansion of the liquid refrigerant in the boiling coil when released from the high pressure zone, serves to take up or absorb heat from the brine in the brine tank and permit the latter to chill the refrigerating chamber and freeze ice cubes and the like. The liquids or gases commonly used as refrigerants are ammonia, carbon dioxide, ethyl chloride, freezol, thane, methyl chloride, propane and sulphur dioxide.

The object of the present invention is to provide a boiling coil of improved construcadjacent the refrigerating chamber and through which coil the refrigerant is circulated through an expansion valve by means of the usual compressor driven by suitable motor power. The spent refrigerant in the form of gas saturated with heat is conducted back to the compressor where it is compressed and relieved of a portion of its heat and thence conducted to a condenser where the compressed refrigerantis further cooled and transposed from gaseous to liquid form.

From a suitable receptacle connected with the condenser the cooled and liquid refrigerant is again conducted under pressure from the compressor through the expansion valve and first to the upper end of the boiling coil.

constituting the present invention which coil is located as described in the refrigerator brine tank. The process is continuous and the same refrigerant may be utilized over and over in the manner described for chilling and freezing purposes for an unlimited period of time.

In refrigerating systems now in use and Where a boiling coil. is employed in the system, certain disadvantages are present which are largely due to the nature and construction of the coil element and resulting in the uneven cooling of the brine with not enough cooling of the upper part of the same. Also among these disadvantages is that the liquid refrigerant does not circulate as rapidly as desired through the convolutions of the coil w1th the result that the expandingrefrig erant does not immediately leave the coil after absorbing its quota of heat from the chamber, and this impairs the efficiency and economy of the cooling system. This disadvantage is due to the fact that oil from the compressor is often forced into the coil where it remains due to its relatively heavy consistency, and this accumulation of on detracts fromthe capacity of the coil with the 'resulting loss inefficiency.

. A further object of the invention is to provide a boiling coil which is designed to immediately discharge therefrom any accumulation of oil which may enter the same from the. compressor.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a boiling coil so constructed as to pro mote and maintain a continuous circulation of brine or other non-freezing solution on the exterior of the coil and located in the brine tank in which the coil is submerged.

A further object of the invention is to provide a boiling coil in which the maximum low temperature is developed at the warmest portion of the refrigerating chamber, namely at the top of the chamber, and thence the refrigerant is circulated downwardly to the bottom to complete the cooling or chilling process before being returned to the compressor. The expansion valve in the present instance is designed to be located at the top of the tank and low pressure prevails in the coil below the expansion valve. The arrangement insures that the tank will freeze at the top practically as rapidly as it will at the bottom, thus causing even refrigeration. By taking the spent refrigerant oil at the bottom of the coil any oil which has been forced the coil element, immediately prior to" its being drawn oil and returned to the compressor crank case. With such objects in View, as well as other advantages which may be incident to the use of the'improvements, the invention consists in the parts and, combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that the several necessary elements constituting the same may be varied in proportions and arrangement without departing fromthe nature and scope of the invention.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood there are shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical efi'ect,.without limiting the improvements in their useful applications to the particular constructions which, for the purpose of explanation, have been made, the subject of illustration.

In said drawings v Figure 1 is a front elevation view of a household refrigerator brine tank having housed therein a brine tank coil constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation partially in vertical section with the front brine tank removed. a

Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a transverse section on line 4-4 of Figure 1..

nially closed by a screwcag The tank 1 is further provi Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the refrigerator brine tank which may be of usual form and rectilinear dimensions, and preferably constituted of sheet metal. The tank is des1 ed to be housed within the brine box of a household refrigerator %not shown) which constitutes an element 0 nected with the fluid circuit and other ele-. ments of a refrigerating system in which a liquid refrigerant of low boiling temperature is utilized as'the heat absorbing and cooling medium. Such a system, for example, is fully disclosed and described in my pending application Serial No. 122,935, filed July 16, 1926. I

The brine tank 1 if desired may be of double wall construction toprovide a heat insulating 01' dead .air space between the walls, and the present invention contenn.

plates the provision of such walls if desired. Said tank is of fluid tight construction and contains the usual anti-freezing solution suchas salt and Water or a m xture of alcohol and water, or any desirable solution of low freezing temperature, or a temperature for example of twenty degrees below zero. The antifreezing solution of brine or the like is indicated generally at 2 and may be introduced into the tank through a filling vent 2 nored with an upper closed air and refrigerating com artment or chamber 3 which may be used orfreezing wall of the I and is conor other closure.

ice cubes in the usual partioned tray or trays, and a lower closed compartment or chamber 4 which may also be adapted for freezing ice cubes or for chilling perishable food articles. The space between the tank walls and the walls of the compartments 3 and 4, is open anti-freezing solution within the tank 1, aswill be apparent from'an inspection of the drawings.

The coil member is indicated at 5, is formed'of copper pipe or other preferred metal or metallic alloy designed to resist any to permit free circulation of the brine or corrosive tendency on the part of the liquid at the top of the tank l to adjacent its point "of exit at the bottom of said tank, and this arrangement insures the continuous circulation of the refrigerant through the coil aided by gravity, as well as obtaining other useful and desirable advantages to be described. In the embodiment illustrated thecoilmember 5constitutes a single continuous conduit or pipe having an upper layer or section A disposed above the upper compartment 3, an intermediate section B arranged between the upper and lower closed compartments 3 and 4, and a lower layer or section C located at the bottom of the tank and between said bottom and the floor of the lower compartment 4. The entire coil member is submerged in the anti-freezing solution 2 within the tank.

The upper or inlet end of the coil is indicated at 6 and communicates with the usual expansion valve (not shown) in which the liquid refrigerant is expanded into vapor as it enters the coil, said valve being designed to be supported on the brine tank by means of an apertured plate 7 communicating with nected by a suitable sleeve to the usual pipe or v conduit (not shown) which leads to and communicates with the crank case chamber of the compressor element of the refrigerating sys-' tem. The latter and the usual condenser, to gether with their valves and pipe connections, form no part of the present invention and have therefore not been illustrated.

These features together with the-pipe connec-, I

tions and other necessary adjuncts, are illustank. The direction of this induced reactionary circulation is indicated by the ar- 7 rows (Figure 3), the colder brine at the coils and partlcularly between the inner coils 5 and outer coils 5 passing downward at a distance from the walls of the air compartments 3 and 4 and displacing the warmer brine I which is in contact with the walls of said compartments and has taken up heat therefrom.

This warmer brine passes upward to have its heat taken u by the coils 5 and 5 whereupon it descen s again to the lower part of the brine tank.

The inclined nature of the coils from top to bottom invokes the law of gravity to promote the continuous circulation of any oil deposit which may be forced into'the coil'from the pressure side of the compressor, and this oil has been found to accumulate inother coils with a resulting restriction of the conduit and impairing the circulation of the refrigerant therethrough. In the present construction any oil a'ccumulationis carried by gravity to the bottom of the coil'member whence it is returned to its desired location in the crank case chamber of the compressor. This movement of the oil accumulation is further promoted .by the partial vacuum created in this even temperature obtained-by the slow circulation of the brine solution causes the tank to frost evenly over its wall surface, as distingulshed from present tanks having defective circulation where the frosting predomi-. nates at its coldest point or at the bottom of the tank. This advantage is further insured by admitting the refrigerant at the top of the coil which is adjacent the warmest part of the refrigerator, instead of admitting the arrangement of the coil convolutions.

neededlocation, and thence passes to the I intermediate or slightly colder zone of the refrigerator before becoming saturated and expending its capacity for heat absorption at the lower or coldest portion of the re frigerator.

' he described staggered construction and downwardly inclined arrangement of the I boiling coils in superposed layers or sections provides simple, economical and efficient means for obtalnlng the desirable advantages above set forth,'and it is thought that the-- same and the manner of obtaining them will be clearly apparent. The compressed and condensed refrigerant in liquid form is conducted from the condenser to the usual expansion valve which in the present instance is located on top of the brine tank 1.

immediately expanded into gaseous orm and enters the upper end 6 of theboiling coil 5 to thence pass downwardly through the coil, absorblng heat from the areas adjacent the sevpassing through the valve the refri erant is eral superposed sections A, B and C thereof,

and creating an even and constant circulation of the brine solution within the tank by reason of the staggered and overlapping The heat saturated refrigerant is returned to the compressor through the elbow 1O communi-.

eating with the lower extremity of the-coil at the bottom of thetank, and any accumulation of oil in the coil member circulates down wardly by gravity by reason of the inclined arrangement of the convolutions and is returned to the compressor in the manner described. A constant and unimpaired circulation is thereby obtained, and an even low temperature of the-refrigerator chamber is I 105.

cooled by the staggered turns of the upper f sections A and B of the coil.

What I claim is:

1; In a refrigerating apparatus the com bination of a brine tank having a brine solution therein and having air refrigerating compartments within said tank, a boiling coil ofvpipe for containing and conducting the expanding and heat-absorbing fluid arranged in sections within said'tank above and below and between said air compartments, all parts of said c011 having down ward inclination towards the compressor, said COIl'SBCtlOIlS havmg the turns of their pipes arranged alternately out of line with each other to form inner and outer coils, so that the brine eanpass downwardly at the outer sides of inner coils and at the inner sides of outer coils as it is cooled, the lower end of the coil having means for connection with the compressor and the upper end having means for connection with the expansion valve, for the admission of the heat absorbing fluid first to the upper end of the coil.

2. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a brine tank having air refrigerating compartments within the same, a boiling coil for containing and conducting the expanding and heat-absorbing fluid arranged in sections within said tank above and below and between said air compartments, said coil sections having their convolutions arranged alternately out of line with each other to form inner and outer coils, so that the brine can pass downwardly at the outer sides of inner coils and at the inner sides of outer coils as it is cooled, the lower end of the coil having-means for connection with the compressor and the upper end having means for connection with the expansion valve for the admission of heat-absorbing fluid first to the'upper end of the coil.

3-,. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a brine tank having air refrigerating compartments within the same, a

Y boiling coil of pipe for containing and conducting the expanding and heat-absorbing fluid, all parts of said coil having downward inclination toward the bottom of the brine tank, said coil member having its convoluouter sides of inner coils and at the inner sides of outer coils as it is cooled, the lower end of the coil having means for connection with the compressor and the upper end having means for connection with the expansion valve, for the admission of the heat absorbing fluid first to the upper end of the coil.

4. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a brine tank having air refrigerating compartments within the same, a

the outer sides of inner coils and at the inner sides of outer coils as it is cooled, the lower end of the coil having means for connection with the compressor and the upper end having means for connection with the expansion valve, for the admission of the heat-absorbing fluid first to the upper end of the coil.

5. In a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a brine tank having an anti-freez ing solution therein, a boiling coil of pipe for containing and conducting an expanding and heat-absorbing fluid submerged in said solution, all parts of said coil having a downward inclination toward the compressor to empty said coil of oil accumulations and the convolutions of said coils being arranged alternately and in staggered relation. whereby the brine is permitted to circulatebetween the convolutions of said coils. y In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

- FRANK L. COOKL 

